In 2000, Google’s formation revolutionized the way we look for information on the World Wide Web. In doing so, Google completely revamped a way for people & businesses to reach their potential consumers. Pay-Per-Click advertising (where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on an online search ad), better known as Search Engine Marketing has progressed rapidly over the last decade. Whether you are a large corporation or small local business, everyone can take advantage of attracting new consumers using this form of advertising.

Pay-per click (PPC) is more than just bidding on keywords that people use to search for your business or brand. It’s a powerful way to find out how your consumers think about your brand or business. 73% of all searches are for non-branded keywords, which means if you were a retail business and you sold Nike running shoes, 7 out of 10 people will be more likely to search the term “running shoes” rather than “Nike Running shoes”.

THE WAY IT GOES DOWN!

1. Businesses decide they need to be at the top of Google.

2. They pull out a credit card and set up a Google Adwords account

3. They spend $500 a month and start running Google Adwords.

4. They notice an increase in traffic to their website.

5. The END

Several factors go intocreating a successful PPC Campaign for your business or brand. Below are 5 simple ideas and suggestions to think about, before you whip out your credit card.

1. What are your goals for the campaign? What are you trying to achieve?

3. Keywords and how many? Use the link below for helpful suggestions before starting your campaign. I have found the best way to gather keyword suggestions, is by asking your current cliental or consumer, what words would they use to search for your store or brand?http://bit.ly/stwSKY

4. Is there enough traffic and searches out there for your product or business, in order for you to run a successful pay-per click campaign. See link below for a useful tool to determine search traffic for your suggested keywords.

5. Last, but not least!!! Do you have the time to manage and optimize a PPC campaign across Google, Yahoo & Bing? Only you can answer this question and there are no tools or links to help you figure it out. Average time to run a successful PPC campaign is anywhere from 2-8 hours a day.